As bombings escalate and the regime hangs on, some Iranians say they are in limbo

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(Photo by Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)Majid Saeedi/Getty ImagesAs President Donald Trump threatened on Tuesday that "a whole civilization will die tonight" if the Iranian regime does not make a deal and open the critical Strait of Hormuz, people in the country said they are juggling feelings ranging from hope to despair. Trump has extended a deadline to 8 p.m. ET Tuesday -- which would be Wednesday, April 8, at 3:30 a.m. in Tehran -- for the Iranian government to strike a peace deal or risk the annihilation of all bridges and power plants in Iran. An internet blackout imposed by the regime makes it difficult to communicate with people inside Iran, so it's difficult to gauge how people in the country are feeling. Some have managed to get messages to ABC News. Emergency crews work at the site of a US-Israeli strike on a residential building that also destroyed the adjacent Rafi-Nia Synagogue, April 7, 2026, in Tehran, Iran.Majid Saeedi/Getty Images"I am against the regime and I want them gone with every cell of my body. I have participated in the protests against the regime. But by no means I agree with a foreign power destroying what has been built by my people, for my people, and for the future of our children," Fatemeh, a 40-year-old engineer who lives in Tehran, told ABC News in a written statement on Monday. Citing security reasons, Iranians like Fatemeh who have communicated with ABC News, spoke on condition that their real names not be used. Sohreh, a 33-year-old journalist and resident of Tehran, said the conflict, which began with a Feb. 28 U.S.-Israel joint attack, recalled moments of joy as it appeared the Iranian regime was about to be toppled and disappointment that the Islamic Republican Guard Corps (IRGC) has refused to give up the fight. "I danced so much to the news of Khamenei's death, so much that my legs hurt and I fell," Sohreh said in a message to ABC News, referring to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country's supreme leader, who was assassinated in a strike on the first day of the conflict. But as the war, now in its 39th day, has dragged on, Sohreh said, "We ask ourselves what if the war continues?" "When they hit Asaluyeh, everyone was feeling terrible," Sohreh said of Monday's strike by Israel Defense Forces on Iran's southern petrochemical infrastructure in the Persian Gulf port city of Asaluyeh. "We wonder what to do if they hit the infrastructure. They don't belong to the Islamic Republic. They are built by our own children. They belong to Iran and the future of Iran." Rubble of a building at Sharif University of Technology, which was damaged in a strike, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Tehran, Iran, April 7, 2026.Majid Asgaripour/West Asia News Agency via ReutersOn Tuesday morning, Trump posted an ominous message on his social media platform, saying, "A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again." "I don't want that to happen, but it probably will," Trump wrote. "However, now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS?" Trump added, "We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World. 47 years of extortion, corruption, and death will finally end. God Bless the Great People of Iran!" Trump's statement came after he told reporters on Monday during the annual White House Easter Egg Roll, "The Iranian people, when they don't hear bombs go off, they're upset." "They want to hear bombs because they want to be free," Trump said without attributing where he was getting his information from. He went on to claim that the only reason Iranian civilians have not taken to the streets en masse to demonstrate against the regime is that "they will be shot immediately, and that's an edict. That's in writing." Women walk past buildings destroyed in a joint attack by Israel and the United States, April 6, 2026, in Tehran, Iran. (Photo by Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)Majid Saeedi/Getty ImagesLeila, a 36-year-old resident of Tehran who works as a manager of a shipping company, said she agrees with Trump, telling ABC News on Monday that when she doesn't hear bombs, she feels "upset." Leila, who described herself as anti-regime, said she longs for the day she sees American soldiers in Iran to save them. In an earlier message Leila sent to ABC News on March 30, she said, "We don't have fear from the missile attacks, we just get very happy to watch them burning the bases of the IRGC." Darius, a 38-year-old anthropologist from Tehran, told ABC News in a message sent on March 25 that he was initially anti-regime, but as the bombing continued, his opinion of the regime had started to change. "The noise of the bombs and the fact that they are actually killing a lot of civilians pushes us more towards let's say rallying around the flag," Darius wrote. "We are fighting this war as a country and even though the Iranian state is not my cup of tea and even though I detest many of the things they do, still, I prefer to stand by their side against a Nazi in the White House." At least 3,546 people, including 244 children and 1,616 other civilians, have been killed in Iran due to the U.S.-Israeli strikes since the war began, the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News agency reported on Sunday. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events As President Donald Trump threatened on Tuesday that \"a whole civilization will die tonight\" if the Iranian regime does not make a deal and open the critical Strait of Hormuz, people in the country said they are juggling feelings ranging from hope to despair. Trump has extended a deadline to 8 p.m. ET Tuesday -- which would be Wednesday, April 8, at 3:30 a.m. in Tehran -- for the Iranian government to strike a peace deal or risk the annihilation of all bridges and power plants in Iran. An internet blackout imposed by the regime makes it difficult to communicate with people inside Iran, so it's difficult to gauge how people in the country are feeling. Some have managed to get messages to ABC News. \"I am against the regime and I want them gone with every cell of my body. I have participated in the protests against the regime. But by no means I agree with a foreign power destroying what has been built by my people, for my people, and for the future of our children,\" Fatemeh, a 40-year-old engineer who lives in Tehran, told ABC News in a written statement on Monday. Citing security reasons, Iranians like Fatemeh who have communicated with ABC News, spoke on condition that their real names not be used. Sohreh, a 33-year-old journalist and resident of Tehran, said the conflict, which began with a Feb. 28 U.S.-Israel joint attack, recalled moments of joy as it appeared the Iranian regime was about to be toppled and disappointment that the Islamic Republican Guard Corps (IRGC) has refused to give up the fight. \"I danced so much to the news of Khamenei's death, so much that my legs hurt and I fell,\" Sohreh said in a message to ABC News, referring to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country's supreme leader, who was assassinated in a strike on the first day of the conflict. But as the war, now in its 39th day, has dragged on, Sohreh said, \"We ask ourselves what if the war continues?\" \"When they hit Asaluyeh, everyone was feeling terrible,\" Sohreh said of Monday's strike by Israel Defense Forces on Iran's southern petrochemical infrastructure in the Persian Gulf port city of Asaluyeh. \"We wonder what to do if they hit the infrastructure. They don't belong to the Islamic Republic. They are built by our own children. They belong to Iran and the future of Iran.\" On Tuesday morning, Trump posted an ominous message on his social media platform, saying, \"A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.\" \"I don't want that to happen, but it probably will,\" Trump wrote. \"However, now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS?\" Trump added, \"We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World. 47 years of extortion, corruption, and death will finally end. God Bless the Great People of Iran!\" Trump's statement came after he told reporters on Monday during the annual White House Easter Egg Roll, \"The Iranian people, when they don't hear bombs go off, they're upset.\" \"They want to hear bombs because they want to be free,\" Trump said without attributing where he was getting his information from. He went on to claim that the only reason Iranian civilians have not taken to the streets en masse to demonstrate against the regime is that \"they will be shot immediately, and that's an edict. That's in writing.\" Leila, a 36-year-old resident of Tehran who works as a manager of a shipping company, said she agrees with Trump, telling ABC News on Monday that when she doesn't hear bombs, she feels \"upset.\" Leila, who described herself as anti-regime, said she longs for the day she sees American soldiers in Iran to save them. In an earlier message Leila sent to ABC News on March 30, she said, \"We don't have fear from the missile attacks, we just get very happy to watch them burning the bases of the IRGC.\" Darius, a 38-year-old anthropologist from Tehran, told ABC News in a message sent on March 25 that he was initially anti-regime, but as the bombing continued, his opinion of the regime had started to change. \"The noise of the bombs and the fact that they are actually killing a lot of civilians pushes us more towards let's say rallying around the flag,\" Darius wrote. \"We are fighting this war as a country and even though the Iranian state is not my cup of tea and even though I detest many of the things they do, still, I prefer to stand by their side against a Nazi in the White House.\" At least 3,546 people, including 244 children and 1,616 other civilians, have been killed in Iran due to the U.S.-Israeli strikes since the war began, the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News agency reported on Sunday.